Muirfield Hole 09
Published: Last updated:
Par 5, 554 yards
This hole plays a lot differently now to when I won here in 1980 and they’ve made some more changes for this year’s Open. The hole plays into the teeth of the prevailing wind and when it was shorter, you had to be careful off the tee to find a very narrow landing area.
Today, you still have to land it in that narrow slot, but you’re playing from a lot further back, and they’ve brought the out-of-bounds fence down the left (and Bernard Darwin’s favourite stone wall) much closer to the line of play.
Shorter hitters won’t have to worry about reaching the deadly Pinnacle bunker on the left, but they have put a new trap in down the right at about 275 yards.
They have also tightened up the bunkering round the green so this is a much stronger par 5 now. But, it’s the fairway bunkers that can break your round at Muirfield. In 1980, I figured that much out in my first practice round.
